Hierarchical prayer and blessing for Christians

from the Resurrection of the Lord Parish - Hamilton

The days of April 1 and 2 were for the Romanian Orthodox Christians in the city of Hamilton and its surroundings full of spiritual significance and will remain for a long time as a spiritual landmark in the souls of those present.

On the eve of the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, of St. Mary of Egypt, starting at 6 pm the Sacrament of the Holy Anointing of sicks was performed in the presence of His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada surrounded by a group of priests and deacons which included: Rev. Archpriest Viorel Țencaliuc (Richmond Hill/Toronto), Rev. Fr. Petre Busuioc diocesan inspector (Oshawa), Rev. Fr. Emanuel Ionuț Țencaliuc (Scarborough/Toronto), Hieromonk Polycarp from the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and St. Ephrem the New (Mono), Rev. Fr. Călin Toderita and deacon Marian Iacobut. The joy of the prayer and the grace received through the anointing with consecrated oil were completed by the presence of the Holy Relics of the Holy Hierarch Nectarius, the great healer, to which the clergy and believers worshiped with great reverence. The prayer evening continued with a sermon of HG Bishop Ioan Casian who completed the liturgical moment, explaining what asceticism during the fasting period means and exemplified how we can combine prayer, fasting and the work of good deeds. The hierarch also concisely and eloquently presented the importance of each Sunday of the Great Lent, then the spiritual effervescence of Holy Week, showing the dawn of the Resurrection, the finality of our journey.

In the cool air of Sunday morning, the 5th of Great Lent, the Romanian hierarch of Canada was greeted in the traditional Romanian way with bread and salt by two children of the parish, while the choir sang songs specific to this liturgical period. In a spirit of piety and prayer, the Holy and Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great was performed, and at the end, the hierarch consecrated the new icons that adorn the walls of the Holy Altar. In the speech, the hierarch highlighted important aspects from Sunday's Gospel, showing the faithful what the primacy of God is, then he continued to show the model of repentance and rising of St. Mary of Egypt.

"The text from the Epistle to the Hebrews ends like this: He offered himself to God a blameless sacrifice, He will cleanse your conscience from dead deeds, so that you can serve the living God! Thus, we see that not all worship is true worship. Our true worship is that which participates, which integrates the worship of the Savior Christ as the Son of God and man at the same time. If we want true worship, we must integrate the life of Christ into our lives. There is no other way. This integration of the divine life in our life can only be done in the Church. We know that God works everywhere in the world through uncreated energies, through divine providence, He takes care of everything, but, a specific work falls to the Church: that of the sanctification and salvation of man, Church herself being a creation of God, and not of man. We are the body of Christ. The Church is the body of Christ. If we want to sanctify our lives like St. Mary of Egypt, who from a woman living a sinful life became a great saint, we must return to God, we must repent."

"Working in this way - said the hierarch of Canada - our conscience is cleansed, because truly serving God means entering into this dynamic of holiness. We see it in the case of the saint celebrated today - St. Mary of Egypt: from a sinful life to a life of holiness that amazes one of the great fathers of that time, Fr. Zosima. By transforming our lives into a life of holiness, we truly serve God. In this way, we can say that we begin to resemble Christ, the Eternal High Priest, the One who helps us to continue this way to the kingdom of heaven."

Referring to today's world and its relationship with the Church he added: "The spirit of the world is not always consistent with the logic or the spirit of the Gospel. Christ the Savior came to serve others, but not just any service, but a priestly service to eternal life. He did not serve for a worldly interest, to be a king of this world, but He served to open the way for the world to the Kingdom of Heaven, to God. We are invited to follow Him in this kind of service, because through this effort to cleanse our consciences of dead deeds (passions: malice, pride, envy, etc.), we are certain that we are serving Him with a clean conscience, sharing in Christ, who through the power of His Resurrection purifies our lives. This is the purpose and work of the Church, even more so during the period of fasting, which is a period of purification, restoration and straightening of our lives, of persistent prayer, of care for those more afflicted than us and of the quality of their life, of love for the neighbour, friend or non-friend."

Then, it followed the moment of installation of the new parish priest Rev. Călin Toderita, who received from HG Bishop Ioan Casian the Holy Gospel, the Holy Cross, the symbolic key of the church, an icon with our Savior Jesus Christ and two books, also explaining the symbolism of each gift. On the same occasion it was remembered the beautiful work of Rev. Fr. Lucian Pușcariu the previous parish priest of this community, who served for a long time and who has now retired. His work will be continued by the new parish priest.

The festive agape-meal took place in the large hall of the Romanian House where everyone enjoyed the Lenten dishes prepared by the ladies of the parish.

The 5th Sunday of Great Lent of the year 2023 remains a reference point in the history of the Resurrection of the Lord Romanian Parish in Hamilton, when, with the blessing of the local hierarch, a new parish priest will have the mission to serve God and people and continue the work of his predecessors.